PREVALENCE OF RESPIRATORY SYMPTOMS IN SWISS CHILDREN - IS BRONCHIAL-ASTHMA REALLY MORE PREVALENT IN BOYS

Precise epidemiological data for the prevalence of childhood asthma we re lacking for Switzerland until recently. In 1990 we performed a stra tified cluster sampling of schoolchildren (aged 7, 12, and 15 years), using a parent completed questionnaire to obtain data for the 12 month s prevalence of asthma symptoms and the lifetime prevalence of asthma diagnosis. A response rate of 97.5% enabled us to analyse 4,353 comple ted questionnaires. The prevalence of any asthma symptom during the la st 12 months was 17.5% while only 4.8% of the children reported the di agnostic label ''asthma.'' The 12 months prevalence of chronic night c ough was 12% and is comparable to other European data. Wheeze (5.9%) w as reported less often in Switzerland than in England. At the age of 7 years asthma symptoms such as wheeze, morning tightness, and allergen -induced symptoms were reported more often in boys than in girls; at t he age of 12 and 15 the male preponderance was no more evident. For al l asthma symptoms the male:female ratio decreased with increasing age of the children, while independently of age twice as many boys than gi rls reported the diagnostic label ''asthma.'' We conclude that asthma symptom prevalence in Swiss schoolchildren is within the lower range o f European data. Chronic night cough might be a more appropriate varia ble to compare prevalence rates between regions with different cultura l and linguistic backgrounds than the symptom of wheeze. Evidence exis ts for a substantial underdiagnosis of bronchial asthma in Swiss child ren, especially in girls. Further evaluation is needed to define risk factors for underdiagnosis and the associated risk for undertreatment. (C) 1995 Wiley-Liss, Inc.